The G-Force P.R.O. System--Digital Images as Engineering Documents
Product recalls costing millions of dollars to large snowmobile, ATV and automotive manufacturers are often the result of simply overlooking the "little" things like hose, wire and cable routings. A leaky gas line can really ruin your day. A small company that makes a mistake in this area could have to close their doors for good. At G-Force we have successfully developed the P.R.O. (Placement and Routing Optimization) digital imaging system to document hose, wire and cable routings in formats that are official engineering documents, just like a blueprint. The system can be utilized in conjunction with CAD modeling of cable routings, or as a stand-alone solution. The P.R.O. system has been successfully used at Polaris and Arctic Cat.
P.R.O. forces design engineers to deal with real-world assembly issues up front. P.R.O. brings Manufacturing, Engineering and Quality groups together to develop assemblies that are robust, manufacturable, repeatable and verifiable.
P.R.O. can also help to bring order to other complex assembly interrelationships like decal placement that a blueprint cannot do justice to. Tricky assembly documentation is not just as simple as passing out photos to assembly personnel. If a manufacturer attempts to implement a photo-based system without doing their homework the end result will be that assembly personnel, engineers and QA staff will quietly ignore it as just another well-intentioned but ineffective management initiative. Here are a few examples of issues that must be overcome to properly utilize digital photos as manufacturing documents:
What approval, release and control process must the document follow?
How do I deal with revisions that are necessary?
What intra or internet viewer will be utilized to view the documents?
Will the distribution system be paper, electronic, or a combination of both?
What internal and external "customers" will have access to view the documents?
Which personnel are responsible for determining the assembly standards, cable routing path, retaining clips, etc?
Which personnel are responsible for creating the photos?
What format must the documents be created in?
We can help you answer questions like these, and in doing so help your company to revolutionize it's quality and save your company money.
Give us a call to find out how we can help your enterprise establish world-class quality!
